Emperor Julian's Observation of Christian Love
Tonight I was getting a jumpstart on a book my teens will be reading as part of our church history curriculum a few (short) weeks from now. "Ho, hum, " you say, as you nearly click your mouse to a livelier blog. Please stick with me here.
The book is called Church History in Plain Language, by Bruce Shelley. It's a bit scholarly, and I normally avoid all things scholastic during the summer, but wisdom as a teacher would have me get a handle on what my students will be reading, don'tcha think?
On page 34 is the heading "Reasons for the Gospel's Spread." The author gives four main ones:
1. "...Early Christians were moved by a burning conviction [that]...men had been redeemed and they could not keep to themselves the tidings of salvation."
2. "...The Christian gospel met a widely felt need in the hearts of people. " Shelley explains that the ancient Stoics taught that happiness is achieved by suppressing the desire for all things one cannot get or keep, that one could retreat from life's storms and illness by retreating into himself and there find God. The early Christians did not throw the Stoic baby out with his moral but introspective bathwater, but they did emphasize the error in the tub: it lacked grace. "Only the active love of God--rather than the individual's self-respect--could make the Christian life possible and direct the believer outward to the needs of his fellow men." Many people came to see that what the Stoics aimed for, the Christians produced."
3. The practical expression of Christian love. I never knew that one of the practical expresssions was the way Christians treated dead bodies. Shelley quotes Lactantius, the North African scholar. (I sound erudite, don't I? I have no idea who this man was, but read on). Lactantius wrote, "We will not allow the image and creation of God to be thrown out to the wild beasts and the birds as their prey; it must be given back to the earth from which it was taken.'
And pagan Emperor Julian (whose name I recognize un peu) observed Christian love in action and wrote this (which gripped me):
"Atheism (i.e. Christian faith) has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal that there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well, while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them."
4. Persecution of Christians because they loved Jesus . "Martyrdoms were often witnessed by thousands in the amphitheater. The term martyr originally meant "witness," and that is precisely what some Christians were at the moment of death."
Do you see a theme in those four reasons that the gospel spread? It's the same theme today: God's love!
Maybe I won't poo-poo "summer school" as much now that I've found a blessing in this 500-page tome of church history. Wanna borrow it when we're done?
The book is called Church History in Plain Language, by Bruce Shelley. It's a bit scholarly, and I normally avoid all things scholastic during the summer, but wisdom as a teacher would have me get a handle on what my students will be reading, don'tcha think?
On page 34 is the heading "Reasons for the Gospel's Spread." The author gives four main ones:
1. "...Early Christians were moved by a burning conviction [that]...men had been redeemed and they could not keep to themselves the tidings of salvation."
2. "...The Christian gospel met a widely felt need in the hearts of people. " Shelley explains that the ancient Stoics taught that happiness is achieved by suppressing the desire for all things one cannot get or keep, that one could retreat from life's storms and illness by retreating into himself and there find God. The early Christians did not throw the Stoic baby out with his moral but introspective bathwater, but they did emphasize the error in the tub: it lacked grace. "Only the active love of God--rather than the individual's self-respect--could make the Christian life possible and direct the believer outward to the needs of his fellow men." Many people came to see that what the Stoics aimed for, the Christians produced."
3. The practical expression of Christian love. I never knew that one of the practical expresssions was the way Christians treated dead bodies. Shelley quotes Lactantius, the North African scholar. (I sound erudite, don't I? I have no idea who this man was, but read on). Lactantius wrote, "We will not allow the image and creation of God to be thrown out to the wild beasts and the birds as their prey; it must be given back to the earth from which it was taken.'
And pagan Emperor Julian (whose name I recognize un peu) observed Christian love in action and wrote this (which gripped me):
"Atheism (i.e. Christian faith) has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal that there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well, while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them."
4. Persecution of Christians because they loved Jesus . "Martyrdoms were often witnessed by thousands in the amphitheater. The term martyr originally meant "witness," and that is precisely what some Christians were at the moment of death."
Do you see a theme in those four reasons that the gospel spread? It's the same theme today: God's love!
Maybe I won't poo-poo "summer school" as much now that I've found a blessing in this 500-page tome of church history. Wanna borrow it when we're done?
posted by Zoanna at
7:33 PM
3 Comments:
Zo- That it totally awesome that you are studying church history! I think that was one of my favorite things to study, even if it wasn't really a part of my cirriculum (spelling? sorry). I loved to read about all of the early churches everything from 1st c. church to almost modern day! Press on and your children will be so grateful for knowing from whence their fellow believers came.
Thanks, Sacha. It really tickles me that someone your age has taken a keen interest in what a lot of young people (and old) think is dry, boring, and obsolete. I also love your phrase "from whence." You and Lib sound so much like your dad sometimes! (I saw him and your mom at Kohl's on their anniv. He said he reads the comments. Hi, Mark, if you're reading!)
I've read that quote from Emperor Julian before and it really gripped me. What a wonderful example love for the "unloveables" is to the world. Sounds like a great book, I'll have to look into getting (or borrowing:) it!
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